Boat: Snow Petrel - Warrior 35 Mk III
Source: Damo Carroll, Skipper, Snow Petrel
PROBLEM: Original engine instrument panel sited low in cockpit and susceptible to salt water .
SOLUTION: Re-site instruments by fabricating new GRP panel to fit bulkhead above seat level.
Because the panel is sited low - beneath the seat level on the starboard side of the cockpit - there is always a danger of salt water damage to the engine instruments, audio alarm and ignition/starter key when incoming seas land in the cockpit area. Damo Carroll, the skipper and owner of Storm Petrel decided to do something about this problem and set about making a new instrument console, re-positioning the instruments higher and further forward in the cockpit, which in turn would give better visibility of the relevant dials.
Firstly, he made a plug, then a GRP mould and then the panel itself. The completed console then had battens glued into the top and sides which would allow the new housing to be bolted to the forward cockpit bulkhead.
The console base was scribed to the angle of the cockpit seating, and a groove cut into the teak cladding to sit the base of the unit into.
The bracket on top of the box is for the chartplotter.
The engine stop button is sited on the right of the console and utilises the existing stop cable.
The new unit in place at the fwd end of cockpit seating.
The smaller box on top of the coachroof holds the bracket for the GPS and also houses the power and data cables for GPS and Chartplotter when not in use. There is also a 12v outlet on the front of the box.
The other cables and electrics are routed through the quarter berth and the shallow cockpit starboard locker, but Damo experienced some problems with water ingress in this area - the silver tape being a very temporary way around the problem!
The front will eventually have a perspex cover fitted, which should keep all but the worst seas away from the instruments and the whole thing is, in Damo's words, "the right angle and height to lean against."
Site of panel on stbd cockpit seat - this one on Rhumb Do
A hole was cut into the bulkhead on the saloon side to allow access to the associated wiring.
As you can see it is still a work-in-progress.
Damo is willing to give advice and information on this project - and still has the mould should anyone want to borrow it!
He can be contacted by e-mail at: damocarroll1@googlemail.com
